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A blues band claims their performance was cut short at a bar in Chicago because there were “too many black people” in the audience.

The band performed at McNally’s Traditional Irish Pub in Beverly, and was told by Mike Cummings, who booked the band for the establishment they were done for the evening. 

From CBS:

Singer and trumpeter Brandon Bailey is the only black member of the Reprieve Blues Band, but Saturday night at McNally’s Pub in Beverly, it became clear his black friends and supporters weren’t welcome. “It was all about the music and to find out that it became about race was very disappointing,” said Bailey. […] “I asked him why. He clearly stated there were too many black people in his place,” said band leader Glenn Osvarek.

“I would argue that shouldn’t even have been a question, but there were at least 25 or 30 people of color in the building that came to support myself and the band,” said Bailey.

Read more at CBS

The band objected, only to get the same rhetoric. The band got paid, packed up and left but Bailey wrote about the incident on his blog.

Now, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy is investigating Cummings, who is reported to be a member of the city’s police force.

Too many black people. Thoughts on the incident?

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